Fragrance house

Musk Oil

Musk Oil is best understood as Jōvan Musk Oil, the fragrance associated with the Jōvan brand. Founded in 1968 by Bernard Mitchell and Barry Shipp, Jōvan began with a mink bath-oil product. After Barry Shipp encountered concentrated musk oil sold by street vendors in New York’s Greenwich Village, Jōvan introduced Musk Oil in 1972, when musk was generally used only in small amounts as a perfume additive. The brand’s early identity was also shaped by unusually direct sexual-positioning advertising for its musk-oil fragrances, with Richard Meyer as advertising and creative lead. In 1975, The Fragrance Foundation recognized the Musk Oil promotion as a notably creative national advertising campaign. Jōvan became the first fragrance brand to sponsor a rock group when it sponsored the Rolling Stones during their “Tattoo You” tour in 1981. Today, Jōvan is part of Coty’s consumer fragrance portfolio, and Musk remains its defining musk fragrance.